April 2005

April 26 — The Kachin Independence Organization, a cease-fire group in northern Burma, has expressed their disapproval of recent declaration of independence of the Shan State and the formation of a Shan government led by Shan prince Sao Surkhanpha.

“Such act could harm national unity and lead to disintegration of the Union and thus, we disapprove of the declaration on seceding from the Union to from a separate state,” according to a KIO statement released on April 21. The statement also appeared in the state controlled The New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

On April 17, a group of Shan elders led by Sao Surkhanpha formed the government of Federated Shan State and declared that Shan State independence of Burma.

April 25 — Kachins living the United States plan to hold an annual reunion in May to discuss Kachin-related religious, culture and political issues. The three day “Kachin Family Camp” will be held from May 27-30 in Alpine, California.

A senior pastor from the First Kachin Baptist Church of Los Angeles, Dr. Rev Yawba Lasaw, said, “We, Kachin in United States have united because of holding this camp.” The camp aims to unite Kachins and to sustain Kachin culture and traditions as well as to support Kachins in Burma.

April 18 — Residents in northern Burma have been inched up fears against thousands of migrant Chinese workers employed at logging and mining companies which are extracting natural resources in Kachin State. Local also feel that the present of Chinese migrant workers has led to create social and economic problems.

An estimated 40,000 migrant workers from China, in the last three years, have come to Hokat and Thabadaung villages in inner Kachin State, according to villagers from Hokat. Another 10,000 Chinese workers are expected to arrive in Hokat in the near future, according to one Hokat resident. The two villages, situated about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, serve as a strategic transit point for timber coming from the areas west of the Irrawaddy River. Previously quiet villages near the cross roads of the logging trade have been transformed into boom towns to cater to the influx of Chinese loggers.

April 14 — Over a hundred of government officials from China’s southwest Yunnan province last Saturday had paid three-days visit to Burma’s northern Kachin State to boost border trade and transportation projects implemented by Chinese companies, according to the Kachin Independence Organization.

An entourage of Yunnan officials led by Mr Kon Ku Chung, vice chairman of Yunnan Provincial People’s Congress, en routed to the capital of Kachin State Myitkyina via Laiza border pass as an invitation from commander of Burma Army northern command Maj-Gen Maung Maung Swe.

April 6 — Two American World War II veterans toured memorable trip to northern Burma where they served as U.S soldier in 60 years ago to fight against Japanese Army, according to the Myanmar Times report.

Elmer Hauldren, 82, and Veikko Kauppila, 80, visited some locations of historical Ledo Road in the middle of last month. 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) long Ledo Road, also know as Stilwell Road, connects northeast India town of Ledo and China’s southwest city Kunming via northern Burma.

Both of them were U.S service men serving under different platoons along the Ledo Road during the World War II. Elmer Hauldren was a sergeant at U.S supply convoy and Kauppila served at Namhkam-based engineering unit which built Ledo Road near China border.

April 1 — The New Democratic Army-Kachin, NDA-K, a Kachin ceasefire group based in Pang Wa of northern Burma, announced that it has withdrawn from the Kachin Consultative Assembly, KCA, which was formed in 2002.

“We, the NDA-K, have announced that we refrain from participating in the Kachin Consultative Assembly,” said the statement released by the NDA-K on Tuesday. Zahkung Ting Ying, the head of the NDA-K, played an important role in the creation of the KCA.

The KCA was established in October 2002, with the support of the Kachin Independent Organization, KIO. The Assembly was created to provide a common platform to represent the Kachin people. The KCA, last year, arranged several negotiations between the KIO and a splinter group led by Col Lasang Awng Wa.